Invited Speaker

Prof. Assunta Borzacchiello

Prof. Assunta Borzacchiello

Institute of Polymers, Composites and Biomaterials, National Research Council, Italy
Speech Title: Nitinol as versatile materials for applications from biomedical to solid state refrigeration

Abstract: Nickel-titanium alloys commonly called as nitinol, a Shape Memory Alloy (SMA), is recognized as next generation alloy [1]. Nitinol is a family of titanium based intermetallic materials that contain nearly equal amount of nickel and titanium, has been widely employed in many applications such as biomedical, actuators, aerospace and automotive devices. In near-equiatomic NiTi alloys, shape memory effect and superelasticity are due to thermoelastic martensitic transformation from parent austenite phase with B2 structure to the monoclinic (M) or rhombohedral (R) martensitic phase transformation. The biocompatibility, and exquisite properties of nitinol SMA have gained a lot of popularity among these several combinations, and allow to obtain smart material with shape memory effect and superelastic properties. Due to the functional properties of nitinol SMAs, their biomedical application has proven to be more successful by increasing the possibility as well as the performance of minimally invasive surgeries. The combination of nickel-titanium SMA is highly biocompatible which makes them useful as orthopedic implants, surgical instruments, cardiovascular devices, and orthodontic devices. The reversible austenite-to-martensite solid state transition under stress that occurs in Nitinol is associated to a release of heat, and this phenomenon is widely investigated in literature for the application in solid-state cooling devices [2]. Elastocaloric cooling based on NiTi SMA exhibits excellent cooling capabilities. Due to the high specific latent heats activated by mechanical loading/unloading, large temperature changes can be generated in the material. The small required work input enables a high coefficient of performance. Solid-state cooling is an environmentally friendly, no global warming potential alternative to vapor compression-based systems.